(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for opening soft-cup packs of cigarettes. In progressive stages, the cellophane wrapper top and the pack closure strip are cut, the cellophane wrapper top piece is removed, the remaining cellophane is removed, the soft-cup is removed, and the foil bundle containing the cigarettes is raked open and the cigarettes removed. Various conveyors move the packs through the stages. For example, this apparatus is useful when packs of cigarettes have outlived their shelf-life and the tobacco is to be recovered for other uses.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The prior art teaches several related methods and apparatuses for removing cigarettes from packs or cartons. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,380 teaches an apparatus which removes both side walls of a carton of cigarettes and then blows the cigarettes out of the packs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,499 teaches a method and apparatus which uses a ripper fan and cyclone separator to reclaim the tobacco from cigarette packs and cartons.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,843 teaches removing both end panels from individual cigarette packs and then using a non-intrusive removal force to remove the cigarettes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,320 teaches slitting a cigarette package longitudinally along the two opposed sides, then cutting the package transversely to the cigarettes to divide the package into two parts, and then tumbling the parts to remove the cigarettes. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,951 teaches an apparatus which cuts individual cigarette packages in half transversely to the cigarettes contained in the packages.